Swimming
by SerenityFrogLuvr3
Summary: Some of the military officers push Ed a little too far on the subject of why he won't come swimming with them. He is unhappy with them. Not my best, but it ends pretty funny.


Yep, another FMA fanfic. This is just how I work. I get these little obssessions, and over the years I've learned not to fight them. Uh, I'm not sure what I can say about ths one, only it's not as good as my other two (At least, I don't think so.) It's just a shallow little oneshot I came up with last evening, there's really no substanance to the story at all.

Wow. After that little speech, I'm sure you're all so pumped to read my fanfic. Uhh, like I said, I'm not too fond of this, so if I didn't take as much care in fixing my mistakes as I did my other two you'll have to forgive me. If there are any glaring erreors you find, please feel free to point them out. I'd still be happy to fix them.

**Disclaimer- Uhh, my mind is kind of blank, so I'm not gonna take the time to come up with a witty disclaimer right now. So yeah, not mine.**

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"Hey boss, come on in!"

Ed glanced over to where Havoc was calling from. A splash of chilly water hit him and he wiped his eyes angerily, "Oh, real mature," he muttered. Havoc just laughed, turning to float lazily on his back. Breda joined him, with Falman and Fuery coming to tread water beside him.

The four had been driven to the water by the scorchingly hot sun that had plagued them throughout their four-day long trek through barren woods. When their party had stumbled across the large river, the men had joyfully stripped down to nothing and jumped in. Ed and Al were the only one's left on land, both declining the offer to join in.

"Oh, come on Ed," Fuery called, throwing himself onto Breda's belly. The two disappeared beneath the water for a moment before surfacing again. Breda had Fuery in a headlock, and the smaller man was struggling in vain to be free. With a lon-suffering sigh Ed turned away from the spectacle and began reading his book once more. But he whipped his head up furiously when a moment later water fell upon the pages.

"Hey, watch it!" he cried, clutching the book to his chest.

"Ed, what's wrong with you? It's boiling out, why don't you just get in here? It's_ so_ nice," to demonstrate, Breda dunked his head under and then shook his wet head with an exagherated _'ahhhhh'_. Ed just rolled his eyes and moved further away from the river's edge, closer to where Al had postioned himself to be safely away from any stray streams of water. The men knew at least that Al could not, under any circumstance, get too wet for fear of ruining his blood seal, but they could not comprehend why Ed was so adverse to swimming.

"What's the problem?" Falman inquired, arms moving lazily to keep himself above water.

"There's no problem!" Ed exclaimed, "I just don't want to come swimming."

"But aren't you hot?" Fuery asked, having recovered from temporarily being held prisoner. But before Ed could answer, Breda cut in.

"Of course he's hot, look at him." Indeed Ed was naked from the waist up, along with having recently shucked off his boots. His abandoned clothes lay in a pile by the river's edge, and by the way he was beginging to fidget it appeared that his tight black pants weren't goind to last long either, modesty be damned.

The bare-chested youth just scowled and pointedly trained is eyes back on his book, not really reading. Instead, he had all senses alert, braced for another attack. He sensed its approach and lept to his feet just in time to avoid another mighty splash.

He turned and glared at the military men, all of whom were laughing hysterically. Watching them with an look of exasperation, Ed carefully settled himself back on the ground. Being the first to catch his breath, Fuery smiled up at him, "Just come swimming, Ed. There's nothing to be scared of."

"I'm not scared! I just can't-" the boy stopped abruptly before his brow furrowed and he turned away. But the four had caught the last of his words, and were unwilling to let go.

"Can't what?" asked Falman. The other's echoed the question, pitching their voices to become as annoying as possible. But Ed ignored them, and was rewarded by another dousing. The boy stood and whirled, any trace of playfulness erased. The men stopped laughing in the face of his anger.

"WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!" he demanded, "Are you all idiots? Look," he waved his auto-mail arm in their direction, "_METAL!_ And my leg?" he shook his left leg as well, "_METAL!_ I can't swim because I sink like a stone! Trust me, I've tried! God, just lay off already!"

And with that he turned on his heel and stalked away, disappearing into the trees. The men were left speechless, watching him go. Finally, Breda voiced his thoughts to his silent comrades.

"What's his deal? How were we supposed to know?"

"God, what a brat. Why do we even try?" Havoc muttered, nursing his bruised pride.

"It's not really your fault."

They all jumped at Al's quiet voice, having forgotten for a moment that the strange metal boy was still there. He went on, turning his head to better look at them all, "Brother used to love swimming before... I mean... well, he was a really good swimmer. But now... you know. I guess he's just a little envious. Since you guys are... and he's not... I mean, he can't... you know, " he was floundering, trying to vocalize his complex thoughts.

The officers pondered his words for a moment, and Al looked on in satisfied relief. It appeared that they understood, despite his poor attempts at expressing his brother's feelings. With an inner smile, Al continued.

"Don't worry, either. He's mad now, but once he calms down he'll realize that he's not really angry at you. Although you shouldn't have pushed him like that." It was amazing how much disapproval it was possible to display when you couldn't even move your face. The men all shifted uncomfortably, shame evident on all their faces. Looking at them, Al took pity and changed his tone to a happier one.

"Ed really did used to love the water. There was a pond down by our home in Rizembool, and we would go there almost every day in the summertime. He was the one who taught me and Winry how to swim. Neither of us were ever very good, but Ed never gave up. Even when we wished he would," A smile could be heard in his voice, and all the men grinned at the idea of little Ed trying to teach his hopeless pupils.

The mood lightened, the men were able to continue the rest of their short, refreshing dunk. Although Ed didn't reappear, they weren't worried. No doubt they would come across him back at the camp, engrossed in a book and as willing as they to forget the entire thing.

After about five minutes, Al excused himself and made his way back to camp. There, he found his older brother sitting upon a log by the ashes of their cooking fire. He did indeed have his nose buried in a thick book, and he didn't look up as Al approached.

"Brother," he asked cautiously, "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," came the slightly muffled reply, "I'm fine."

With a sigh Al settled himself down beside the small blond, "It's not their fault. You know that, right?"

Ed seemed to conseider for a moment before nodding reluctantly, "I know," he admitted, "I just..." he trailed off hopelessly, but Al nodded.

"I understand, brother."

At this, Ed did look up at him. His angry expression softened into one of gratitude and he leaned against the large suit of armor.

"I know you do, Al. But they shouldn't have pushed me like that."

"I know."

They sat like that for about ten minutes before Al looked down once more. Ed's face was hidden, bowed over his book again, but from under his curtain of golden hair a small smile could be seen playing across his lips.

"What is it, brother?" Al asked.

Ed's grin widened as he lazily turned the page, and he commented lightly, "So Al, how long do you think it will take them to realize that I changed the water into blue dye?"

"_Brother_!"


End file.
